This invention relates generally to point-of-sale computer systems of the type used in retail stores to record sales transactions. More particularly, the invention relates to point-of-sale systems capable of handling discount coupons. Most point-of-sale systems have terminals that are capable of reading a code printed on each product package, and thereby determining the price from an internal file that is accessed by a store controller. Products are coded by means of a series of parallel lines, in accordance with a convention known as the Universal Product Code.
As every grocery shopper knows, many manufacturers distribute discount coupons for their products, either through the mail, or by printing them in newspapers or magazines, or enclosing them in similar or related product packages. When a customer presents a discount coupon at the time of purchase of an appropriate product, the grocery checker operating the terminal will typically key in the coupon amount, and the discount will be subtracted from the customer""s bill.
This procedure often has the disadvantage that the customer may not have actually purchased the discountable product, and the coupon will then be improperly redeemed. A further disadvantage, from a customer standpoint, is that collecting coupons and taking them to the store is inconvenient, and many customers simply do not participate in any promotional program involving distributed coupons. This represents a significant loss for the manufacturers or retailers that distribute the coupons.
In the cross-referenced patent application that has issued as U.S. Pat. No. 5,173,851, and in related U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,910,672 and 4,723,212, systems are disclosed for generating printable discount coupons at a checkout counter, as a result of the purchase of one or more xe2x80x9ctriggeringxe2x80x9d products. A customer may then be presented with a discount coupon for use on a subsequent visit. This technique has proved to be very successful in distributing single discount coupons in response to the purchase of selected products or groups of products, but does not address other important marketing goals of retailers.
Retailers and manufacturers of grocery items and other consumer products have long felt a need for marketing and promotional programs that were more selective in targeting customers for attention. Most promotional programs involving product discounts require the distribution of coupons to large numbers of people, most of whom do not take advantage of the discounts offered. An important goal in promotional programs is to increase the percentage of redemptions of discount coupons, but this goal can only be achieved if alternative schemes are devised to target the promotional programs more selectively than has been possible in the past. Printing discount coupons in the store has already proved to be a key feature of such programs, and printing coupons in response to the purchase of triggering items is one specific technique for customer targeting. What is still needed, however, is a more general technique for targeting customers to receive details of promotional programs, based on more than simply a single triggering purchase.
Another aspect of this invention relates generally to point-of-sale (POS) computer systems and, more particularly to difficulties associated with the processing of point-of-sale data. Point-of-sale computer systems are widely used in retail stores to record sales transactions. These systems have varying levels of complexity and local storage capacity, but have in common the ability to record data relating to each of many sales transactions that take place in a store.
The primary purpose of a point-of-sale system is to provide a record of the accumulated sales transactions in a store. From the record, store management personnel can track sales volume and revenues by store, by department, by product category, or even by product, since each product sold is entered into the record by product code. A familiar bar code known as the universal product code (UPC) is scanned at a checkout stand, or entered manually if the code is missing or unreadable.
A secondary purpose of a point-of-sale system is to provide additional information computed from the primary record. For example, a common problem is controlling inventory levels to meet customer demand. Theoretically, the point-of-sale record contains all the information needed to enable management personnel to decide how much of any given product needs to be reordered to maintain store inventory at a desired level. A related problem is shelf space allocation in retail stores. Typically, shelf allocation is based on product sales. If a product sells well, more shelf space should be allocated to it in the store, to minimize the possibility of low or empty shelves.
Another category of secondary information contained within the primary point-of-sale record is concerned with research into customer behavior. This includes research into mass customer behavior, such as determining the number of customers who bought a specific product that was the subject of a promotion program, and research into individual customer behavior, such as determining whether a customer should be given a discount coupon for a product, based in part on the customer""s present or prior purchase activity.
Although these secondary uses of point-of-sale data hold promise for store owners and managers, in fact there has been very little exploitation of point-of-sale data for other than the primary purpose of tracking sales volume and revenues of the store. The principal reason is that large point-of-sale systems simply provide too much data for many practical purposes. Inventory control is still usually handled by placing a fixed weekly or other periodic order with product vendors, and occasionally modifying the order based on long-term trends in inventory levels and any anticipated peaks in demand. Shelf allocation is usually handled more or less intuitively, or using out-of-date product sales information that is eventually derived from the point-of-sale data. Using point-of-sale data for consumer research is also rendered difficult by the large volume of data that has to be analyzed to obtain the desired information.
It will be appreciated from the foregoing that a serious problem faces store owners and managers who wish to use point-of-sale data for such applications as inventory control, shelf allocation control, and various forms of consumer research. The volume of collected data is so great that efficient processing for applications such as these has not been realized. The present invention provides a solution to this problem and the other problems alluded to above.
The present invention resides in a method and apparatus for generating printable discount coupons in a retail store, conditioned on some preselected combination of customer attributes and past and present customer shopping activities. In terms of apparatus, the invention comprises a plurality of terminals at customer checkout locations, each having means for reading product codes on purchased items in a customer order; means for filtering sales transaction data obtained at each terminal; a store controller with which the terminals can communicate, the store controller having access to an item record file containing price and other information for each product item; means for storing the terms and conditions of discount deals for which a customer may qualify; and means for uniquely identifying each customer, but only if preselected conditions relating to customers have been met by the specific customer whose order is being processed.
The apparatus may also include means for printing the discount coupon for immediate customer distribution. Further, the apparatus may include means for processing redemption of a printed discount coupon in a subsequent customer order, and applying a discount to the subsequent customer order if the discounted item is purchased, and means for maintaining a log of discount coupons printed and cumulative discount coupons redeemed.
More specifically, the apparatus of the invention further comprises means for identifying triggering products in the customer order, wherein each triggering product pertains to a condition of a coupon deal presently in effect or to be put into effect in the future; and customer purchase file means for storing data pertaining to the customer""s purchase of triggering products, for use in determining whether future coupon deals should be effective. The means for automatically generating a printable discount coupon includes means for determining from the customer purchase file whether the customer has met all of the coupon deal conditions pertaining to past customer activity, and means for determining from the customer purchase file whether the customer has met all of the coupon deal conditions pertaining to present customer activity. A printable coupon will be generated only if the customer has met all of the required past and present customer activity requirements. These activity requirements may be selected as desired for a particular coupon deal. For example, a coupon may be generated if the customer has purchased a certain item in a specified time interval, but has not purchased a specific item in the present order.
In one form of the invention, the only condition to be satisfied before generating a coupon is that the customer is in a preselected target group of customers, which may be specified by factors such as age, residence location or income level.
In terms of a method, the invention comprises the steps of storing the terms and conditions of at least one discount coupon deal; uniquely identifying the customer whose order is being processed; determining whether the identified customer has satisfied all of the conditions of a discount coupon deal; and automatically generating a printable discount coupon if the conditions are satisfied.
In one form of the invention, the step of determining whether the identified customer has satisfied all of the conditions of the discount coupon deal includes determining whether the customer falls within a preselected target group of customers, based on information previously provided by the customer. In another form of the invention, the step of determining whether the identified customer has satisfied all of the conditions of the discount coupon deal includes determining whether the customer""s past and present shopping activity satisfies preselected conditions.
More specifically, the method further comprises the steps of preselecting triggering products, each of which pertains to a condition of a discount deal presently in effect or to be put into effect later, detecting the purchase of triggering products in the customer order, and saving customer purchase data concerning the purchase of triggering products. The step of determining whether the customer""s past and present shopping activity satisfies preselected conditions includes reviewing the customer purchase data saved in previous visits to the store.
It will be appreciated from the foregoing that the present invention represents a significant advance in the field of point-of-sale systems in which discount coupons can be printed in retail stores. In particular, the invention provides for very specific targeting of customers for promotional discount coupons, based on a selected combination of customer-supplied information, and present and past shopping activity by the customer. Other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following more detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.